Investigation of the geology, mineralogy and use of clays of the Yazlıca (Ilıca/Kütahya) region in the ceramic industry

The high demand for energy and raw materials in the world, as well as the political tensions between the countries, caused the energy and raw material crisis to grow. Due to these reasons, studies have been started to search for new and domestic resources in the ceramic industry. Within the scope of this thesis study, studies have been carried out to evaluate the raw materials in the Kütahya region, which is one of the leading cities in the ceramic sector. The geological formation of the clays in the Yazlıca (Ilıca/Kütahya) region, which are located within the Eskişehir I24-d1 and I24-d4 sheet, has been studied and their ceramic properties have been investigated. Analyses have been made to these clay samples contained in the Kızılkaya Volcanics (Mk) in the region in order to determine their chemical, mineralogical, technological and thermal behaviour. According to the XRD data, clay samples formed by basalt decomposition as a result of geothermal alteration were determined to be smectite and celadonite. For the ceramic properties of the clay samples taken, 1-3-5-7% was added into the masse formulation of Keramika Seramik. In order to examine the pigment effect, artistic glaze effects were obtained as a result of adding green clay into Opaque, Transparent and Matt glazes. As a result, it was found that the Green clay sample can be used as a ceramic pigment. It can be used in the production of red masse and brick-tile production of red clay samples. This thesis study was supported within the scope of TÜBİTAK 2210-D Domestic Graduate Scholarship Program for Industry.